RALEIGH—The N.C. Department of Transportation announced today that it intends to file a petition for rehearing with the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the proposed Monroe Bypass.

NCDOT prevailed in the initial suit filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) challenging the environmental documents for the Monroe Bypass. SELC filed an appeal to the 4th Circuit, and a three-judge panel of the court on May 3 overturned the lower court decision. The petition for rehearing seeks a review by the full circuit court of the legal analysis arising out of technical data and facts that the state believes the higher court panel misunderstood.

The Appeals Court will decide whether or not to rehear this case. In the meantime, and out of an abundance of caution, the N.C. Turnpike Authority (NCTA) will begin a review of the issues detailed in the panel’s opinion and determine what, if any, additional environmental study might be necessary. During this data review process, NCTA will engage a variety of experts to assist in the data analysis and explanation. In the meantime, NCTA will suspend most work on the project until it is legally prudent to move forward.

NCTA will host a community meeting in the coming weeks to answer questions regarding this project and how this process will impact the current timeline. The time, date and location of that meeting have not been determined yet.